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Sunday, November 25, 2007

The century ride continues to become more likely. We went to look at bikes yesterday.

I had no idea how complex and precise performance bikes have become. Let me explain - if you asked me to describe a bike, I'd be telling you about a basket on the front, tassels on the handle bars and a banana seat with flowers on it. That's the bike I owned as a child. I've certainly ridden and owned bikes since then, but nothing fancy. My last bike was bought at Target. And trust me, it didn't have carbon anything or Shimano gears or whatever else.

So I showed up at Cal Coast Bicycles like the village idiot and asked a ton of questions. Luckily, we had George, the world's most patient salesperson, help us. He put me on the right size bike and gave me some advice on how to balance myself better on the saddle. Viola! It wasn't uncomfortable like the bike in Ireland. In fact, I road tested the bike for so long that I got lost and George had to come out and fetch me.

During the ride back to the bike shop he gave me a few more tips. And then I almost took out a guy who stopped dead in front of me while crossing the street. How typical for me. I don't have a single problem riding on my own. As soon as someone is available to see me be uncoordinated my doofus gene makes a spectacular appearance.

In other news: On Thanksgiving Day I did the Run for the Hungry 10K and averaged 13:30 minutes per mile. That's a vast improvement from the 13:52 minutes per mile I did in the Iron Girl 10K in late July.

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About Sneaker Stories

Sneaker Stories started as the blog of my marathon runs and marathon travels. My love of marathons expanded to include a bunch of endurance sports - triathlon, swimming and cycling.
I'm a participant and mentor for Team in Training and a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.